Newark NJ, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today that the District of New Jersey seized 352 firearms as part of criminal prosecutions in Fiscal Year 2018.

The District of New Jersey worked jointly with its law enforcement partners, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and numerous agencies of the State of New Jersey.

The founding fathers designed the Constitution to deal with the eternal truth that national government USUALLY accumulate and abuse power and wanted the citizenry to have the ability to resist threats to their liberties. There is no mention nor even spirit in the language of the Constitution or Federalist Papers that law-abiding citizens be limited to weapons inferior to that of the military. There is AMPLE evidence that the founders wanted the citizenry to be able to DEFEAT a regular army (not to mention the paramilitaries of the blue windbreaker agencies FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS, etc. whose very existence would have chapped their @ss) if used to infringe on civil liberties. If you find such language, please feel free to share it.

Seaside Park NJ , Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that authorities are investigating an explosion in a trash can near the boardwalk in Seaside Park, N.J., that occurred this morning as a charity 5K race was about to begin.

No one was injured in the blast, which is being investigated by the New Jersey State Police, FBI, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and Seaside Park Police Department. All of those agencies are at the scene.

Attorney General Porrino and Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, have briefed Governor Chris Christie on the incident and the investigation into the blast.

“Working with the FBI and ATF, we are taking every step to ensure the safety of the public and to determine who was responsible for this explosion, which occurred at a time when runners in this charity race could have been in harms way,” said Attorney General Porrino. “We are grateful that nobody was injured, but this is a serious act of violence against the people of New Jersey. We will not rest until we find the person or persons responsible.”

The explosion occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. The Semper Five 5K run had been scheduled to begin shortly after 9 a.m., but the start was delayed and no runners were in proximity to the trash can when the explosion occurred. The race was canceled after the blast.

Authorities cordoned off the scene of the explosion at the corner of D Street and Ocean Avenue and are conducting a search of the surrounding area. No additional explosions or secondary locations have been identified. Initial reports of a second device found in another trash can have been refuted. However, State Police bomb technicians have rendered safe items located in the same trash can in which the explosion occurred.

Law enforcement partners have been performing a wide search in the area and roads remain closed during the ongoing search and investigation.

No suspects have been arrested in connection with the explosion. Attorney General Porrino urged any with information related to the explosion to call the New Jersey State Police Homeland Security Tipline at 1-866-4SAFENJ.

A gunman killed during his attack on an Islamic prophet Muhammad art show in Garland, Texas, reportedly bought a pistol through a botched federal firearm sting.

Nadir Soofi bought a 9-mm pistol at a Phoenix gun shop in 2010, one report said, that sold illegal firearms through ATF’s heavily criticized Operation Fast and Furious to track firearms back to Mexican drug cartels.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee wants to know if that same pistol was used five years later in an alleged Islamic State-sanctioned shootout targeting right-wing blogger Pamela Geller’s event, according to a memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The letter is addressed to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson.